WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on Wednesday and announced plans to relocate the U.S. Embassy there, a move expected to inflame tensions in the region and unsettle the prospects for peace.

“Today, we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do,” Trump said from the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room.

“After more than two decades of waivers, we are no closer to a lasting peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. It would be folly to assume that repeating the exact same formula would now produce a different or better result,” he added.

Upending decades of foreign policy

Trump’s decision upended seven decades of U.S. foreign policy that has resisted a recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved.

But Trump’s move on Wednesday signaled a willingness to prioritize the fulfillment of another campaign promise over warnings from U.S. allies in the region. The decision could also stymie the peace process and increase security risks in a region that is already on edge.

Acknowledging the concerns he fielded a day earlier from regional Arab leaders, Trump underscored his decision by reaffirming the United States’ commitment to helping Israelis and Palestinians reach a peace agreement. He also stressed that his announcement did not mark a shift in U.S. policy on the final boundaries of future Israeli and Palestinian states.

“We are not taking a position on any of the final status issues including the final boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem,” Trump said. “Those questions are up to the parties involved. The United States remains deeply committed to helping facilitate a peace agreement that is acceptable to both sides.”

Trump’s announcement was warmly received by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who seized on the opportunity to call on other countries to join the U.S. in recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“The President’s decision is an important step towards peace, for there is no peace that doesn’t include Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned and rejected Trump’s decision. Speaking in a televised address, the Palestinian leader said the move will aid extremist organizations to wage holy wars.

“These procedures do also help in the extremist organizations to wage a religious war that would harm the entire region which is going through critical moments and would lead us into wars that will never end which we have warned about and always urged to fight against,” he said.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said Trump’s decision “disqualified the United States of America to play any role in any peace process.”

“President Trump just destroyed any policy of a two-state (solution),” Erakat said in a statement. “He has taken an action to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This is in total contradiction of agreements signed between Palestinians and Israelis.”

Regional ramifications

The ramifications of Trump’s decision reverberated immediately through Israel, the West Bank and the Middle East, though senior administration officials have acknowledged it will take years for the U.S. to build the new embassy in Jerusalem.

Trump ordered the State Department Wednesday “to begin preparations to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” noting his directive would allow the State Department to begin hiring architects and building contractors to build an embassy he said will be “a magnificent tribute to peace.”

While Trump underscored his announcement with an emphasis on U.S. commitment to a peace deal, the move appeared to signal a reduced commitment on the President’s part to achieving one. Just two months earlier, Trump said he was delaying a decision on moving the embassy to Jerusalem to give peace “a shot.”

“I want to give that a shot before I even think about moving the embassy to Jerusalem,” Trump had said in an interview with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in October, one of Trump’s evangelical conservative supporters.

And Trump appeared to acknowledge Wednesday that little progress has been made in his administration’s push for peace, as Trump said “we are no closer to a lasting peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians” than two decades earlier.

Advisers divided

Trump’s decision on Jerusalem divided the President’s top advisers, with Defense Secretary James Mattis, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson privately arguing against unsettling the status quo, senior administration officials told CNN. Vice President Mike Pence, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman pushed in favor of the move, the sources said.

The president’s top officials overseeing the U.S. push for Israeli-Palestinian peace — son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Jason Greenblatt — supported recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, but urged Trump to delay a move on the embassy, the sources said.

Trump’s announcement Wednesday notably took place without Tillerson at his side, while he was flanked by Pence, who had acted as a key liaison to the evangelical community as the decision was crafted.

The impending announcement sent U.S. allies and U.S. officials in the region scurrying to brace for protests and the potential for violence as a result of the announcement.

Palestinian factions called for three days of rage in response to the announcement and US officials issued security warnings for the West Bank and the Old City of Jerusalem.

Arab leaders in the region and French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, expressed their deep misgivings about Trump’s move in phone calls with the U.S. president on Tuesday, urging Trump to reconsider.

CAMDEN, NJ. (CBS) — A Bridgeton couple faces possible deportation Friday and has called on New Jersey US Senator Cory Booker to intervene on their behalf.

A couple dozen people braved a bitter cold wind to recite the rosary outside Booker’s Camden office in hopes that Oscar and Humberta Campos won’t have to use the one way ticket to Mexico they’ve been required to purchase.

They’ve been here for 25 years, and raised three children together in this country. Speaking through a translator, Oscar concedes Booker’s already done a lot on their behalf.

Oscar and Humberta Campos (credit: David Madden)

“He has been supporting us, but we’re expecting more. We want more. We want him to do more,” Campos told KYW Newsradio.

The family and their supporters would like Booker to send a staffer to a Thursday meeting with ICE or introduce a measure that could put proceedings on hold.

Bishop Dennis Sullivan of the Catholic Diocese of Camden was among those at the vigil and questioned the propriety of the immigration crackdown.

“That system needs to be worked on and changed and it’s broken and it needs to be fixed,” Sullivan said.

A spokesman for Booker, Thomas Pietrykoski, issued the following statement to KYW Newsradio:

“The immigration policies proposed by the Trump Administration stand in stark contrast to some of our most fundamental American values and callously target New Jerseyans who contribute so much to what makes our state and nation strong. Mr. and Mrs. Campos’ case reinforces the urgent need for us to stand united in seeking common sense solutions to our broken immigration system that are consistent with our core American principles. While Senator Booker’s office worked for months with the Campos family and federal officials on this case, we are extremely disappointed that ICE has denied the request for a stay of removal and saddened to see another family needlessly torn apart.”

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Wendy McMahon has been appointed to the position of president, ABC Owned Television Stations Group, it was announced today by Ben Sherwood, co-chairman, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney|ABC Television Group. In this role, which was previously held by Rebecca Campbell who was recently named president, The Walt Disney Company EMEA, Ms. McMahon will report directly to Mr. Sherwood and have chief management responsibility for the eight ABC owned television stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno, effective Jan. 1, 2018.

In making the announcement, Mr. Sherwood said, “Wendy combines a deep understanding of the power of broadcast television, a passion for digital media and a broad vision for the future of local. She is a high-impact leader who delivers results and inspires the best from those who work around her. I am excited for our Owned Television Stations Group and for the contribution Wendy will make to our senior leadership team.”

Ms. McMahon added “I am passionate about the value and importance of local and am eager to work even more closely with Ben, the senior leaders at Disney|ABC and our incredible local station teams. Rebecca Campbell and the management of each of our owned stations have done an outstanding job of modernizing our brands and growing our business. I look forward to expanding on that positive momentum and leading the innovation that will help our stations rise to new heights.”

For the past several years, Ms. McMahon served as senior vice president, Digital for the ABC Owned Stations Group where she was responsible for the digital content, product/technology and audience development strategies, and initiatives for the ABC Owned Television Stations. In that role, she oversaw the group’s adoption of data-driven, mobile-first video strategies that drove historical growth and market leadership in on-platform video metrics as well as social reach and engagement. She also led the creation of a local-branded content studio to extend the group’s content and distribution capabilities to premium partners. Prior to being named to that role in June 2015, Ms. McMahon was vice president of Creative Services and Programming at KABC, the ABC owned television station in Los Angeles, California.

Earlier in her career, she served as the director of Creative Services for CBS Owned and Operated Television Stations in Boston, Massachusetts, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Ms. McMahon graduated summa cum laude from Louisiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication.

A court document reveals that Mariah Kay Woods, the 3-year-old who was the subject of an Amber Alert that garnered national attention, may have been sexually abused by her mother’s live-in boyfriend.The details were first reported by the Jacksonville Daily News.WTVD-TV reports, the document lists several acts of abuse against Mariah and her two brothers, including physical violence and sexual abuse of the little girl, whose body was found this past weekend miles from her Onslow County home.

Kristy Woods, the children’s mother, knew of the sexual abuse and allegedly “failed to protect the juveniles from exposure to sexual abuse,” the document alleged.

Mariah was reported missing by her mother on Nov. 27.

Kimrey, 32, was arrested December 1 and charged with concealing of death; obstruction of justice, second-degree burglary, felony larceny, and possession of stolen property. Mariah’s body was found December 2.

Kimrey made a first court appearance Monday morning.

He is being held in the Onslow County Detention Center under a $1,010,000 bond.

Mariah’s biological father, Alex Woods, has sought custody of his other children.

On Tuesday, at the growing makeshift memorial for Mariah, John McMichael placed hand-carved angel wings in her memory.

“I love how the community’s come together for her – disappointed that it takes something like this to do that,” he said. “But it just gave me, I don’t know, a way to say goodbye.”

McMichael told WTVD that his son attended pre-k with one of Mariah’s brothers last year and he saw her all the time before and after school.

“She seemed happy to me,” McMichael said. “I mean, watching her interact – come into the classroom and hug her brother and hug some of the other kids and the parents. Her and her brother were both like that- everyone got a hug.”

Ashley Murillo, who visited the memorial on Tuesday, said, “I’m angry that her life was taken too soon. I think she’s in better hands.”———-

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Fresh on the heels of the release of her hilarious new book, The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness, comedian Paula Poundstone is entertaining audiences across the country and leaving them complaining that their cheeks hurt from laughter and wondering if the random people she talks to are plants. Of course, they never are. For tickets and info: click here

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